


Kingdom Beer: A Taste of Heaven

by masked



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Canon Compliant, Coda, Eavesdropping, Episode: s10e18 Book of the Damned, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-28
Updated: 2015-04-28
Packaged: 2018-03-26 04:24:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3836986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/masked/pseuds/masked
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Castiel loses the round of rock-paper-scissors and is to grab more beer from the kitchen. Dean forgets about Castiel's super angel ears.</p><p>written for the prompt "things you said that I wasn't meant to hear" sent in by <a href="http://hellosaidthemoon-isafangirl.tumblr.com/">emilie</a> during a prompt ask game on tumblr</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kingdom Beer: A Taste of Heaven

**Author's Note:**

> title based on the beer brand and its slogan that appeared in 10.18 plus [this meta](http://ibelieveinthelittletreetopper.tumblr.com/post/116564181353/larinah-did-yall-notice-what-it-says-on-the)

They move to the library soon after they finish eating. They listen to some of what Charlie’s had to do in order to reach the Book of the Damned, most of them dangerous even for veteran hunters to handle. Later into the night, Dean and Charlie move onto some sort of a game by flipping to a random page with their eyes closed with a random book they’ve picked off the shelf while Sam watches amusedly. Castiel loses the round of rock-paper-scissors, which means he’s bestowed the important duty to bring more beer from the fridge.

Alcohol no longer has much of an effect for him—not with the minuscule amount they’ve been consuming anyway—but he still feels drunk on the cheerful atmosphere of the night. He studies the protective sigils etched inside the walls as he makes his way, and smiles to himself. Along with it are the sturdy structure of the underground base; the bunker was built to be protected from many things, and he knows for certain that Dean, Sam and Charlie will be safe within these walls. He is glad for it.

Should Sam and Charlie ever need to protect themselves from Dean, they may be safer here.

Castiel blinks at the sudden intrusive thought. Except, he corrects himself. Except they will never  _need_  to protect themselves against Dean. Because they will find a cure before that happens. Because if not, then he will have to…

The sound of laughter travels back to Castiel, standing in a corridor full of protective sigils but none for a demon let alone the bearer of the Mark, and he shakes himself out of it. Not tonight. Not when Charlie is here, and Dean and Sam are relaxed for once from the good alcohol, food, and company.

Not tonight.

He’s picking up what he came for when he hears Sam mumble out a good night to Dean and Charlie. Perhaps he’ll be able to bid Sam a good night as well, but Sam’s room must be on the other side of the corridor as footsteps patter away, further from the kitchen. 

He’s considering whether to put one bottle back into the fridge now that Sam’s left or if someone else will take two when he registers Charlie’s voice. “How are you doing  _really_ , Dean?”

Castiel pauses in his movement, and listens a little closer.

“Fine. I’m good.” A pause, presumably Dean taking a sip of his beer. “Seriously. I meant it, you know? Before, back at the cabin.”

Castiel doesn’t know what this means, but it must mean something to Charlie. “No, yeah, that’s totally awesome,” she says. She sighs a little. “Sorry the book didn’t help.”

“Hey, you hauled your ass across who knows how many countries just to find this thing for me. What are you saying sorry for, huh? You did good, kid.” The bottom of a beer bottle clanks against the tabletop. “Seriously, Charlie. Thanks for all your help.”

“Just don’t make me do it again.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

Charlie laughs quietly in response. Castiel takes this opportunity of the shared silence between Dean and Charlie to make his way back with the goods.

He’s stepping out of the kitchen when a snort followed by Dean’s quiet voice travels to him again, most likely just audible enough for Charlie. “It’s weird,” he confesses. “I haven’t… wanted something for _myself_ in a long ass time.”

Castiel stills again where he stands. The wavering uncertainty in Dean’s voice suddenly has Castiel wondering if he might be eavesdropping in an otherwise private conversation. But… at the very least, _Dean_ knows that Castiel can hear every word. He couldn’t have forgotten about his angelic hearing capabilities, could he?

“Yeah?” Charlie’s voice prompts, snapping Castiel back to attention. “What else do you want to do after we burn off your Harry Potter scar?”

“Trust me, Lucifer—and Cain—were hell of a lot worse than Voldemort.”

“C’mon man, don’t change the subject.”

“I don’t know,” Dean mumbles. “Stuff, things, you know.”

“Don’t overwhelm me with all the deets,” Charlie replies.

Dean hums in amusement. There’s a familiar tug that Castiel recognizes: an indication that he’s in someone’s thought, similar to what he’s experienced with a select few people including Claire. It’s gentle in nature compared to some of the more intense spikes that Castiel’s experienced in the past, and passes by as quickly as it had arrived.

Charlie huffs. “Fine, but I’ll find out one way or another.” Dean laughs, like he accepts the challenge. “Anyway, Cas is as awesome as I imagined him to be,” she says. “Did he really blow out all the lights when you guys first met?”

“Yep.”

“Were you super scared?”

Dean doesn’t answer, but Charlie must see something in Dean’s expression as she bursts out laughing. Castiel is starting to lean towards that no, he really isn’t expected to have an ear into this conversation. “Dude, he gets excited over getting a gerbil as his pet in MASH. He’s like, the cutest ball of sunshine and I can’t believe—”

She gasps, and there’s a clatter of chairs as Charlie laughs herself into the table.

“Trust me,” Dean’s less than amused voice comes, “it was a hell of a lot more than what Chuck’s writing can probably justify. And I didn’t know what the hell was going on at the time. Sue me.”

“Oh, I’m not making fun of you for _that_. I probably would’ve peed my pants if I had to go through that,” Charlie replies. “Just… Don’t you think it’s sort of hilarious? You guys used to make such a big deal about Cas and the whole existence of angels and stuff, and now you’re like… best buddies with him and send him on beer runs.”

“Hey, he lost that rock-paper-scissor fair and square. Where the hell is he, anyway?”

The familiar tug comes back, a little more insistently this time. Castiel follows it, forcing himself to unplant his feet and move forward.

“Maybe he got lost?”

“That is so ridiculous that I can actually believe him doing it.”

Castiel would be affronted if it wasn’t for the hint of fondness he detects in Dean’s tone. Dean and Charlie settle into a companionable silence again, until Charlie speaks. “Hey, Dean?”

“Hmm?”

“When you said you wanted things after we remove the Mark,” she asks, “does that include Cas?”

Castiel freezes.

“Uh.”

“It’s just, I don’t know. I thought maybe I was just jumping to conclusions way too fast, but at the same time…”

The tugging becomes an intense, constant force.

After what feels like a year, Dean responds. “No. Yes. I don’t know. Shut up.”

Maybe Dean doesn’t remember about Castiel’s angelic hearing capabilities, then.

Clueless to the crisis Castiel is now going through, Charlie makes a gleeful sound. “You have a crush!”

“I do not.”

“Yes, yes you do and it’s so obvious, holy crap. Seriously, if you’re trying to hide it, you really need to dial it down a notch or two. Or ten.”

Castiel starts walking again, a little faster this time.

“Is it _that_ obvious?” Dean asks hesitantly.

“Sorry to break it to you, Dean,” Charlie replies, “but yeah, it really is.”

“Shit. Do you think Sam’s noticed? Fuck, do you think _Cas_ —”

“I don’t know about Sam, but Cas? He’s as clueless as you are.”

Not anymore, Castiel thinks bitterly.

“But Sam’s never said anything about it. If he knew, he’d freak out at me the moment he did.”

“You know him better than I do.”

Dean is quiet for a moment. “Maybe. I don’t know. I—”

“I’m back,” Castiel announces.

They’re standing by one of the bookcases, Charlie leaned against a chair and Dean against the bookcase. Dean’s mouth snaps shut and glances at the beer in Castiel’s hand. The longing from Dean for Castiel pulses out like a heartbeat. Finally with more context, the intensity of it since the past shines a whole different light at Castiel’s understanding of it. “Dude, what took you so long?”

“I was, um, lost,” Castiel replies. “I ended up in the garage somehow, and I had to find my way back, which took longer than anticipated.”

Charlie grinned up at Dean. “Told you.”

Castiel looks around. “Where’s Sam?”

“Hit the hay early, said he was tired,” Dean replied, taking the beer from Castiel’s hand.

Castiel really is getting better at lying at Dean on the spot, thanks to the recent practices with Sam. There’s no reason to think that he won’t be able to keep secrecy of his newfound knowledge, in that Dean loves him back.

Laid out in his head like that, it seems so straightforward. Sam is tall. Charlie has red hair. Castiel cares for Dean in every way possible. Dean possibly cares for Castiel the same way.

Maybe one day, it can be as simple as that. Castiel takes the offered bottle of beer, and sips it as he watches Dean opens Charlie another one. Yes, he thinks. After he deals with Metatron, after Dean is done dealing with the Mark, when none of them are under immediate threat or close to dying, maybe Dean will let him know. Maybe not. All Castiel knows is that he’s willing to wait for that moment to come, and for Dean. An eternity, if it means that.

All the more reason to take the Mark off of Dean as soon as possible, then.


End file.
